Here are some of my thoughts on questions people ask me about Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. But if you’re curious about something that isn’t among the questions & answers below, please feel free to ►email me.

►What did you think of The Return of the King?
►Was Tolkien a Christian?
►So why have I heard that Tolkien wasn’t a Christian?
►Did Tolkien intend his story to be religious?
►In what way is LOTR a "Christian" story?
►What do you say to people who argue that Christians shouldn’t read fantasy?
►What’s the difference between Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings?
►How long did it take you to write Walking with Frodo?
►How is your book different from the other books that discuss the spiritual themes in LOTR?
 

Q: What did you think of The Return of the King?

A: Read my review ►here.

A: Yes. As I mention in my book, evidence of Tolkien’s faith "is clear from his other writings and from the testimonies of people who knew him." For example, in a letter he wrote, "… I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories), and in fact a Roman Catholic" (From The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. by Humphrey Carpenter; published by Houghton-Mifflin). Also, Tolkien was quite instrumental in the conversion of author C. S. Lewis from atheism to Christianity. They were close friends and colleagues in Oxford during the first half of the previous century.

A: My guess is that people have confused Peter Jackson (director of the films) with Tolkien, the author. As far as we know, Jackson has no religious leanings. Thus any spiritual themes that come through in the films are due to the strength of Tolkien’s written narrative.

A: Yes and no. Again, here’s a quote from a 1953 letter to Father Robert Murray: "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision" (ibid). Every author has a worldview, which comes through in his or her works. While Tolkien didn’t set out to write a "Christian" story, LOTR has profoundly Christian themes within it (as opposed to pantheistic or existentialist or materialistic) that are clearly born out of Tolkien’s faith. According to the letter above, he became more aware of this worldview's presence as he reviewed the scope of the story after the initial draft.

A: We must define what we mean by a "Christian" story first. If we mean it to be something that overtly presents the gospel in an effort to evangelize (to help people commit their lives to Christ) then obviously LOTR is not that. But if we mean by a "Christian" story something more like a parable that points to both the created-ness and fallen-ness of people; that has clear moral distinctions between good and evil; and that leaves us hungry to know the good and to do the good – then LOTR is clearly this kind of story. If you’re interested in a personal example of someone whose conversion to Christianity can be traced to LOTR, read my forthcoming book The God-Hungry Imagination: The Art of Storytelling for Postmodern Youth Ministry (Upper Room Books, 2007).

A. I use this quote attributed to G. K. Chesterton: "The babe in the cradle knows about the dragon; he needs the stories to know about Saint George." This quote refers to the English legend in which Saint George slays the dragon. From birth our imaginations are geared toward creating things – we are made in the image of our Creator, after all. Small children don’t have to be told stories about monsters in order to feel terror of the dark, to sense that evil is a living presence in the world: the imagination creates its own dragons. Children DO need to be told the stories in which the dragons are conquered – and so do all of us! Fantasy is a unique medium in this respect because it makes the abstract concepts of good and evil very concrete (i.e., dragons versus knights) and sets them against an unfamiliar backdrop. Its very strangeness means it’s message can bypass our usual defenses and sneak into our souls through the backdoor of the imagination Now obviously this can be both a good thing and a bad thing; it can be used by both evil and good to influence our spiritual growth. But in the case of LOTR it can be a profoundly good thing.

A: Too much to be discussed in a brief FAQ. I’ll put more information up when I get the chance.

A: Two months, give or take a week. I pitched the proposal and sample chapters to Tyndale in mid-January of 2003, got the call toward the end of the month, and my deadline was April 1 (no fooling!). The book released on October 1, 2003 and by January 2004 was the #1 bestselling young adult book in Christian publishing for the season -- and #13 in all genres.

A: My book is geared for a teen readership (preteens and college students will enjoy it, too) and very consciously interacts with the pop culture phenomenon of the LOTR movies and books. In that respect, it is not an academic discussion on the spiritual themes in LOTR, though I make mention of Tolkien’s faith and tackle some of the broader issues. My emphasis is on the teachable moments (the "applicability," as Tolkien called it) to be found in the story, particularly in the choices the individual characters make. Do they choose to serve themselves and their own ambitions, or do they selflessly choose to serve others? What’s the spiritual lesson to be learned from their choice? What does the Bible have to say about it? And how do we apply that lesson to our everyday lives in the real world?

For those who want a more academic approach to the spiritual themes in LOTR, I highly recommend Ralph Wood’s The Gospel According to Tolkien (Westminster John Knox Press).